The Song of the Sea
by SayCheshire
Summary: The Argo II lands and Piper watches Annabeth transform from a bundle of nerves to a girl so beautiful she could be a daughter of Aphrodite. But the daughter of Athena, despite her wisdom, doesn't notice when green eyes meet blue, and something clicks. The son of Jupiter isn't so oblivious.
1. I With A Look

_**The Song of the Sea**_

_I tried to control it, tried to maintain it, tried to contain it. But I failed terribly, and I don't know what to do. I tried to hold back, and accept the fact we ain't perfect, and what we got goin' on might leave us both with bruises._

—_Wild Heart, Sabi_

_**I. Clicking Hearts**_

Jason is the first one to go down the rope ladder, with Annabeth following close behind, probably not even thinking about the possibility of falling. _Maybe she saw Percy Jackson_, Piper thinks. The name has been imprinted in her mind, so much has she heard it in the last six months. Camp Half-Blood doesn't have one camper who is unable to retell at least one of the stories about his quests. Piper McLean is no exception.

As she climbs down the ladder, she wonders if Percy Jackson is as remarkable as everyone seems to think he is. She wonders if she will be disappointed. Piper knows he looks the part of a leader, with the handsome face and the strong build, from the pictures of him everyone at camp has. It is almost scary the way Camp Half-Blood's devotion to him runs so deep. Once, she had remarked during a sing-along that Percy kind of looked like a God. Drew had sniffed disdainfully at her, and had informed her that it was very appropriate that he did, since he had declined godhood at the end of the Second Titan War last summer.

Piper jumps the last few feet to the ground. Before her feet touch the ground, she feels Jason's arms wrap around her. He sets her down carefully on the grass as she gives him a grateful smile. She would have pecked him on the lips, but Piper becomes aware of the two hundred eyes glaring at her. A girl dressed in a purple toga is watching her and Jason dispassionately, one eyebrow raised at Jason. Piper can see from the corner of her eye the sheepish look he gives her, and Piper smiles.

"It's good to see you again, Jason." The girl in the purple toga, who she knows is a praetor, speaks. All eyes shift to her.

Jason is about to answer the praetor when Annabeth interrupts him. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Annabeth Chase. Do you happen to know someone by the name of Percy Jackson?"

Piper tries to stop herself from glaring at Annabeth. The crowd, who has now swelled to something closer to three hundred, doesn't hold itself back. Annabeth stands unbothered by the attention as if she doesn't even notice it, looking expectantly at the girl, who Piper has a feeling is the Reyna Jason has told her about.

"Yes. Our new praetor will be here shortly."

Jason stiffens. Piper strokes his arm gently and is glad that Leo hasn't yet come down from the ship. She is afraid that if he was here, he would have said something like, _See, Jason, I told you you shouldn't wear the purple dress._ She smiles a little, thinking of Leo.

Piper wants to reassure Jason, wants to tell him that this was how it was always going to be, but she is also afraid that the legionnaires would overhear her. The last thing she needs is for the Romans to believe Jason is weak now he has spent time with the Greeks.

Leo chooses that moment to come sliding down the ladder. He jumps and amazingly lands on his feet, and Piper wonders if Jason had anything to do with that. Jason winks at her, and Piper knows he did.

Apparently Leo does too because his first words are, "Thanks, man." He claps Jason on the back.

The Romans don't like that, but whether it is Leo's behavior or his familiarity with Jason, Piper doesn't know.

Suddenly whispers break out among the legionnaires. _What?_ Piper thinks._ What did Leo do? _But when Piper looks up, the Romans are looking in the other direction. Reyna whirls around, her back facing Annabeth. Her hands are held tightly at her sides. Piper has no doubt that the moment Annabeth moves for her dagger, several archers will shoot her. No questions asked.

The crowd parts slowly, and Piper has an open view of three teenagers walking side by side. The tallest guy, who is in the middle, has his arms around a buff boy a little shorter than him and a petite girl with dark skin and light brown hair.

"Reyna." The tall guy with the windswept black hair greets the praetor so quietly Piper almost doesn't hear him. Piper isn't surprised by her identity.

Annabeth squeals. She shouts "Percy!" as she runs at the guy Piper now notices is wearing a purple toga.

Percy Jackson. This is Percy Jackson.

Piper inches forward, eyes wide. Jason's arms go slack around her waist and fall to his sides in surprise. Piper knows that he is as skeptic of the Hero of Olympus as Piper is. She knows without looking that Piper's expectant expression is mirrored in the faces of both Jason and Leo.

Annabeth jumps at Percy Jackson. He caches her in his arms. Piper hears the twang of arrows being fired too late. For a moment, Piper thinks that Annabeth is dead because who else had moved _but_ her? When Piper is able to assess the situation, though, Annabeth isn't even bleeding.

She is cradled in the arms of Percy Jackson, who is laughing. The guy seems to be completely unconcerned by the arrows lodged deep in a curtain of water. The curtain falls to the ground, creating a puddle, and twenty arrows end up swimming in it. Percy sets Annabeth on the floor, probably aware of the Romans glaring daggers at Annabeth.

Hades, if they hated her before… or if looks could kill… Well.

Annabeth has other ideas. She latches onto him, arms encircling his neck. She crushes her lips to his.

Piper hears another set of twangs. She opens her mouth to shout out a warning at Percy Jackson, since she is certain that Annabeth is lost to the world now. Percy doesn't need a warning, however, but a strangled noise escapes Piper's throat anyways. The puddle rises from the ground and creates a shield around Annabeth and him.

Reyna raises a hand, palm up. "Stop!" The archers, still hidden, obey her. Percy doesn't immediately drop the water shield this time. Reyna is glaring at Annabeth and Percy, but mostly at Annabeth.

Piper McLean doesn't notice.

Percy Jackson is looking at her. His face is as handsome as she remembers it being in the photos, but his eyes are so piercing, so green, so incredibly alive in a way that none of the photos at camp had managed to capture. They are looking right at her. Right at her, and she blushes.

Piper feels cold and hot at the same time. This guy, Percy Jackson, is so incredibly powerful that she chokes on her words of caution. There is this aura around him that doesn't allow her to look away. She had said, months ago, that Percy Jackson looked like a God. As Piper stands on the Forum, gazing into his piercing green eyes—eyes that she knows would forever haunt her dreams if she doesn't find a way to keep them on her—she believes he is.

Piper understands, finally, why the Greek campers refused to forget about this man. _This_ was the closest anyone can come to fighting side-by-side with a God. She is both enraged and thankful to the Gods. _Why didn't they force him into godhood when it was clear no one would fit the part better than him?_ merges into _Thank the Gods they didn't take him away. _

Percy Jackson's lips are still attached to Annabeth Chase's, but his eyes are on Piper.

A satisfied smile crosses her face when she becomes aware of that fact. Annabeth is kissing him and he is looking at Piper. Butterflies are fluttering on her stomach. _He wants me_, Piper tells herself. _He wants me._ She knows this with the conviction only a child of Aphrodite can have over matters of love and desire.

Something clicks.

It is beautiful, it is ambrosia and nectar and how Piper imagines being in Elysium would be like. This is contentment but _more_. This is happiness. This is what being around her mother feels like, except it is now multiplied more times than Piper can count. It is kissing Jason but _not_. It is feeling safe but afraid to forget how that feels. It is incredible.

_This_ is Percy Jackson? All of a sudden, Piper understands why Annabeth was such a wreck for six months, searching for Percy like a madwoman. Once a girl felt like this, how could she ever give it up?

Piper doesn't know, and that is why she won't. She can't. She wouldn't give this up. Piper needs his eyes on her forever, like they are now. The alternative would be unthinkable. She slams the door shut on that thought. She won't think of it. Jason, who made her tingle seconds ago, doesn't matter. Annabeth, who she had come to respect and love like a sister, means next to nothing now.

And she would do anything—suck up to the Romans, even—to make Percy stay with her.

In her mind, she swears it on the River Styx. Thunder rumbles, and Piper knows there is no turning back. Her mother's gentle laughter alerts Piper of her presence. She is not reprimanding her, not at all. Piper feared she would for a moment, due to all the times she had heard of how Aphrodite favored Percy and Annabeth together. Aphrodite approves, and Piper is glad.

Percy Jackson is still looking at Piper when Reyna tears Annabeth from him. He looks away, and Piper becomes aware of Jason's burning gaze drilling onto her back.

_**The Song of the Sea**_

The senate house is a high-ceilinged, circular room with a semicircle of tiered seats. The other half of the room is an expanse of polished grey marble. On it stand only three structures. On the very back of the room—but not quite touching the wall—are two chairs carved out of grey marble shot with white. They are an arms-length apart. The third structure is a podium made of the same material as the praetor chairs. All three are protruding from the floor, as if they had been carved out of the same slab of marble.

Piper supposes that they are, in fact, carved that way. Somehow.

She seats on the right section of the senate house, with the other Greeks. They are the East, so the Romans had insisted on their group taking the whole right side for themselves, which means that there are about fifty empty seats on their side. Octavian had insisted that it was only right that the East stay in the East and the West in the West, to ensure tidiness—even if it meant that the Romans got crammed into the right. Despite this, the left side has ten seats to spare once the Lares and the veterans had filed in after the Legionnaires.

Piper, however, feels like Octavian is subtly snubbing them. As they are now, the Greeks are to the Praetors' _left_, which means the Romans are to their _right_, and that is usually a place of honor. Already she dislikes the augur of Camp Jupiter.

Percy is seating on the left chair, closer to the Romans, and Reyna is seating on the right one. Piper had wanted to argue that since Percy is Greek, he should be seating on the right one, but she quickly drops the idea. She doesn't want to remind the Romans—half of which are looking at Percy with awe in their eyes, half of which are barely concealing sneers—that Percy is Greek.

Jason seats besides the aisle on the first row, on the right side of the tiers. Percy had seated himself on the praetor chair Jason had occupied only months before, and the first five rows on the left side had filled up before he had been able to decide where to seat. So instead of seating at the back, he had chosen to seat with the Greeks. No one had complained, but Reyna did give him a mournful look, as if he had sentenced himself to death.

_Maybe he did_, Piper thinks.

Annabeth seats next to Jason, and Piper seats next to her. Leo is to her right.

Percy motions for Reyna to start the meeting. She stands up and walks to the podium. Her voice is strong as she addresses everyone in the room. "I would like to take the time to greet the Greeks. Both my co-praetor and I welcome you to Camp Jupiter, and, subsequently, New Rome. The senate has already been made aware of our joint activities during the Second Titan War. It is my duty to thank you in behalf of Rome for defending the gods' seats of power. For this, I believe a celebration is in order." For the tiniest second, Reyna looks at Percy from the corner of her eye. Percy leans forward slightly, a movement that can be confused as interest if one hasn't noticed Reyna's gaze. Piper understands this for what it is: Deference from Reyna to Percy.

Alarmed, Piper tilts her head to the side a little, so that if anyone happened to look at her, it would look like she is staring at Annabeth. In truth, she scans the Roman crowd, searching for recognition in any of their faces.

Only the dark skinned girl and the heavily-built Chinese guy recognize the two gestures from the praetors. The girl is biting her lip, staring at Percy with worry. The guy is frowning. Percy is looking at the two, but his face remains calm. Piper wonders if he is always this way, so deathly calm, or if he is just nervous like she is. Under normal circumstances, Piper wouldn't have noticed the interaction between the two praetors, but her ADHD—undiagnosed and not as prominent as other demigods'—was keeping her focused on the task at hand, taking in every detail around the room.

Octavian, thankfully, hadn't noticed.

Piper turns towards Reyna once again. "Tonight we will have a feast in both camps' honor. Us Romans would like you to feel at ease, but now we must discuss the events leading up to our mutual discovery of the others' existence. Since this all started with your disappearance, Jason, why don't you explain to the senate what happened?"

Reyna goes back to her chair as Jason replaces her in the podium. "Romans. I haven't set eyes on Camp Jupiter for eight months. I have missed the barracks, the War Games, and a million other things I won't know I've missed until I try them again. I've missed my friends and walking down the _Via Praetoria_ at night. But I can't bring myself to regret my time with the Greeks. As Hera's champion it was my duty to—"

Jason stops when Octavian stands up. "Don't you mean Juno, Jason?"

Murmurs ring out throughout the senate house. "Well, yes, but it was actually Hera who—"

"There it is again. Aren't you Roman enough to call her Juno?" Triumph is evident in Octavian's voice when he directs himself to the Romans, completely ignoring the Greeks and the praetors. "Don't you see? He is no longer one of us. We can't trust him. He is a Greek now. They have corrupted him."

Percy nods at Reyna, who from her chair says, "Octavian, please. Let him continue. He hasn't explained his disappearance yet. Jason, we don't need a speech. Tell us what I asked." Reyna looks guilty about chastising Jason, but Piper thinks that is probably not a very big consolation to Jason.

Concern floods her for a second about her ex-boyfriend when… With a jolt she realizes that she has stopped thinking of Jason as her boyfriend. Now she thinks of herself as single, and that is not right. The thought disappears from her mind when she shifts her attention back to Reyna and Percy once again. _Why does he rely on Reyna to say what he wants to? Why doesn't he do it himself?_

Octavian answers Piper's question. "Why doesn't our Greek praetor answer for him? Certainly, he is more of a Roman now than our old one." He crosses his arms, and Piper understands: Speaking up with Jason in the room puts Octavian in a position to attack both Percy _and_ Jason. Better to let Jason suffer the embarrassment alone.

Percy hesitates before he takes the podium from Jason. Jason plops down on his seat once again before Percy speaks. "I arrived at Camp Jupiter less than a week ago with almost no memory. When I awoke in the Wolf House, I had no memory at all. If not for Lupa, I wouldn't have known my own name." Piper doesn't think it fair that Percy gets to wax poetic about his memory loss when Jason won't be allowed, but she doesn't mind listening to his beautiful, deep-but-not-too-deep, _dreamy_ voice.

"Before I arrived at Camp Jupiter I met an old lady going by the name of June." Annabeth hisses quietly at the name. "I carried her into Camp Jupiter past the Tiber and she revealed herself to be our Juno Moneta." Piper doesn't miss the way the Legionnaires are nodding in approval at his use of the goddess' Roman name, or the way Annabeth stiffens when she notes Percy is calling himself a Roman.

"I don't know what exactly happened with Juno, but since the last Giant War started with her capture, I'm… assuming Jason and two others went on a quest to save her from the King of the Giants." Percy looks at Jason for confirmation and Jason nods. "I disappeared from New York in late December, days before the current damage to the Wolf House was caused. Since I woke up a mere two months ago, I think it is safe to say that Jason was kept hidden by Juno until her time of need, to prevent him from recovering his memories until _after_ the quest." Again Jason nodded. "She was obviously freed. I don't think I know anything else on the topic."

A Lares speaks out. "Why bring you _here_ and him over _there_?"

Apparently, Percy had been expecting that question because he answers after only a brief pause. "I suppose Juno wanted to bring the two camps together by choosing two people who she believed capable of completing the two quests."

"Why _you_?"

Piper thinks she sees Percy grit his teeth, but she isn't sure. "I don't presume to know the mind of a goddess, but my nearest guess would be that she thought she could trust two demigods who had defeated each at least one Titan." To Piper it is clear what he isn't saying outright about Hera's thoughts. The goddess' thinking is surprisingly easy to trace: _Jason and Percy, as children of the Big Three, are both born leaders. Jason is Roman and Percy is Greek. They can be exchanged. _

It isn't difficult to understand when the word _exchange_ is mentioned, but Percy is careful to avoid that word.

"As I have already mentioned, Juno has set in motion the prophecy of the Seven. These Seven are Juno's chosen. Frank, Hazel and I are three of seven. Jason," Percy almost flinches when he says the name, "Piper and Leo make up another three. The seventh demigod hasn't been stated outright."

"Then what's blondie doing here?" Annabeth is glaring at a boy with short red hair.

Percy stares at the boy. "Sorry, what was your name?" Piper thinks he is stalling, but maybe he is also mocking the redhead.

The boy turns red. "Larry."

"Right. Annabeth Chase hasn't been been confirmed as the last of the Seven, but Juno has spoken to me personally of her involvement on the quest. Her… role will be determined later in the day." Annabeth is gaping at Percy, and this doesn't escape anybody.

"I think that someone must give us a perspective of what it's been like at Camp Half-Blood for the past several months. Someone with no connections to the Roman Camp." Percy looks right at me. _Oh, no._

_Oh, yes_, he seems to be telling her. "The daughter of Aphrodite."

Piper stands up and tells her story uninterrupted, using her Charmspeak freely. She tells of her welcome at Camp Half-Blood, omitting details such as her relationship with Jason and her rivalry with Drew. She tells of Khione and of Enceladus, keeping to herself how close she had been to betraying Hera. And of the fight in the Wolf House she tells the most, hoping to make Jason look better in their eyes. Her tale has the opposite effect on the Romans. They are looking at him with pity, something Piper knows Jason hates.

She goes back to her seat after the dark-skinned girl that seems to be close to Percy takes the podium from her. Hazel's retelling of _their_ quest is short and precise, but the Roman campers are listening intently, which makes Piper believe that whoever had told this story before had been even more tightlipped. She can't help but think it was Percy, since the Chinese boy looks completely out of his element seating on the front row of the Roman side.

When Hazel mentions the eagle, Jason stands up. "_You found the eagle?_" Piper almost laughs at the disbelieving tone Jason uses. She doesn't understand what the eagle is, but Piper doesn't want to look ignorant in front of a dozen people who already think her beneath them.

"Yeah."

"You got it back or did you just—"

Hazel cuts him off. She is glaring at Jason. "Of course we got it back. We sure as Pluto wouldn't have come back without it. Percy wrestled it from the hands of the ghost of Michael Varus, and fell from a glacier to avoid losing it." The offhand comment about Percy catches Piper's attention more than anything else. The way Hazel had said does words was like saying _Of course we got it back. Percy was with us. What did you expect?_ An expression of righteous indignation morphs into a deer-caught-in-headlights look.

At the same time, all the Romans start speaking at the same time. "Michael Varus! You never said anything about him—" Reyna's voice is heard above the others before Percy cuts her off.

"I didn't know it was him, alright? Hazel's a daughter of Pluto. She could see who it was, I had no idea."

Octavian, who seems to not care from whose hands Percy had pried the eagle, pounces like a snake. "Yes. We finally got it back. We don't want to lose it again. Everyone here is just assuming that the prophecy of the Seven is coming to pass. Has it ever been stated outright?"

"Why, yes. By Gaea and by Juno." Hazel's voice is icy.

"When? Are we supposed to believe what you say with no proof?"

_Isn't that what you always do? Isn't that what everybody always does? You believe in the heroes!_ Piper wants to scream at Octavian, wants to tell him to stop being so selfish. What would he gain by hindering their quest? Was dethroning Percy and preventing Jason from taking the praetorship worth the gods being thrown into Tartarus?

"I'm sure Juno Moneta will appear to us soon, announcing our quest officially." All eyes turn to Percy. "Who knows? Maybe she'll do so today."

Octavian makes a sour face. "Very well. We'll wait until midnight. If you're right and you are six of the Seven, then Juno Moneta won't abandon you in your time of need. Is this meeting dismissed, praetors?"

"Not quite. An inspection must be made on the Argo II. For safety measures." Reyna looks at Percy, who nods his approval.

"The children of Vulcan will be leading the inspection. Have them report to me directly, Centurions. Meeting dismissed." Octavian is the first out of the double doors. Slowly, the room empties itself out until only the two praetors, Frank, Hazel and everyone on the Greek side of the room is left.

Frank breaks the silence. "You need a tour of Camp Jupiter."

"Are you volunteering?" Reyna looks gleeful, as if she was waiting for someone to say just that.

Percy shoots her a dirty look. "As praetor, shouldn't you be welcoming them more openly?"

"You are a praetor too."

"Oh, for a day, you mean? You have been one longer."

"You have to learn _some _time."

Watching the two praetors argue is like watching a match of ping pong. It's fast and it's a waste of Piper's time, as fun as it is to watch. "What about Jason?"

Reyna and Percy don't even turn to look at her when they say, in unison, "No."

"Why not?" At Jason's words, the two turn. Piper sort of feels offended that Jason warrants more attention than her, even though she knows it is perfectly logical that he does.

Reyna answers him first, in clipped words. "The Romans don't trust you. You won't be running around alone, if we have anything to say about it."

Percy is next. "You sealed your fate the moment you sat on the right side. You should have demanded a seat on the Roman front row. Hades, there were demigods in the first four rows that had no business being there. By Zeus, what were you thinking?"

"I didn't want to make a scene."

"Well, now—" Just as he is getting worked up, Percy stops suddenly. "We shouldn't be talking about this here. We could be overheard."

Leo pipes up. "The Argo II—"

Reyna stops him. "Will be going through scrupulous inspection very soon. About that, I think it would be best if you actually oversaw the inspection, Percy. Go make sure Octavian doesn't sneak too many of his."

Leo perks up. "Hey, can I go with you?"

Percy shakes his head, and Leo's face falls. "My presence will be bad enough. He won't stand for you being there. Frank, Hazel, you coming?"

They both nod, following Percy to the doors. Before they exit, Annabeth calls for Percy. "Can I talk to you—for just a moment?"

Percy glances back at Annabeth. Piper hopes that the jealousy isn't too obvious in her face. "Can't it wait?"

Annabeth looks downtrodden. "I guess."

Percy nods his head. "Go with Reyna. She knows all about the architecture."

For once, not even that is able to make Annabeth perk up.

_**The Song of the Sea**_

Halfway through the tour, Reyna pulls Piper into a hidden alley. Jason had chosen to remain on the Fifth Cohort barracks catching up with his friends. Annabeth had become enamored with Jupiter's gigantic temple, and had stayed there with Octavian, of all people.

Piper can tell by the way Reyna drags her away that she doesn't want Leo to follow, since she doesn't even tell him of their departure as he is occupied talking with a faun. Piper lets herself be carried away. Yes, Reyna is dangerous, but she is also a diplomat. She won't kill her. At least not yet.

The alleyway is spacy and surprisingly clean. Piper leans on one of the whitewashed walls, as does Reyna. The praetor speaks first, "I'll make you a deal." Piper is pretty sure that a deal with the praetor, more used to the language of threats and power plays, is not to her advantage.

Reyna must have seen the doubt in Piper's face because when she looks back at the praetor, Reyna has a reassuring smile dancing on her lips. "What kind of deal?"

Reyna's smile widens until she is showing teeth. Not enough to seem threatening, but close. The praetor, however, isn't looking at Piper. She is looking at the wall, which means she is thinking about something else entirely. "I'm not an idiot, and neither are you. Jason and Percy, for that matter, aren't either."

Piper nods slightly, trying to look as absorbed in her own thoughts as Reyna so that if the other girl decides to snap out of her daydreams, Piper looks equally unconcerned with the conversation. "I know." She lets some Charmspeak sneak through her voice, in order to make it sound smoother.

"That daughter of Minerva, though, she's an idiot." Piper launches into a giggling fit. It manages to snap Reyna back from wherever she was and she soon joins Piper.

When they calm down enough, Piper says, "I'm sure she would take offense to that."

"Oh, but it's always that way. The children of Minerva may call themselves the most intelligent, but they hardly ever have the brains to navigate through politics. Or relationships." Reyna giggles again. Piper follows.

They had slid to the floor in their fits of laughter. The pavement is smooth beneath Piper's legs, and even if it had been dirty, Piper wouldn't have minded.

"She's my friend, y'know." Piper giggles once again. _If Annabeth knew of what I want with Percy, she sure as Hades wouldn't consider me a friend._

"Sure she is." Reyna seems to find it equally funny.

Piper glances at the faraway opening of the alleyway. "Leo must be wondering where we are." Reyna waves her hand at the alleyway's opening. "You aren't worried he'll get into trouble?"

"Oh, no. Dakota was trailing us. He'll keep him entertained." Piper doesn't bother to ask who Dakota is, so Reyna continues, "You want Percy, I want Jason. You've got Jason, and I can tear that pesky blonde away from Percy with a little pressure. You in?"

Reyna looks so smug Piper is tempted to say yes right away. "Won't they know?"

Reyna shakes her head at Piper and smiles. "Of course they will. They won't care." Piper raises her eyebrows, forcing Reyna to elaborate. "I didn't miss that look between you and Percy. No one did. Pluto, only the daughter of Minerva and the son of Hephaestus. I bet rumors are going around about the five of us. So you like him and he likes you. Jason likes you, but he isn't going to be too happy when you tell him to his face you're leaving him for Percy. So he'll come crying to me." Reyna is smiling like Christmas has come early.

"What if Jason chooses to keep to himself?" Reyna looks at her like _Oh, you poor thing, so young_ but Piper thinks her concern is legitimate.

"And lose more power? His best hopes now are to latch himself to me." Piper must have still looked confused, but Reyna sighs good-naturally and says, "Look, it's going to happen anyways. It'll just be faster this way." Reyna holds out her hand for Piper to shake. She moves her fingers playfully, urging Piper to shake her hand. She can't help but think how different this Reyna is to the one giving speeches in the senate house. She looks like she is high.

Piper has to shuffle away from the wall to shake Reyna's hand. "Let's be friends?" Piper purposely makes her voice high-pitched, like a little girl's.

Once again, they slump to the floor in fits of giggles. "Sure." Reyna's tone is similar to Piper's.

They both laugh harder.

_**The Song of the Sea**_

It is late afternoon by the time the inspection of the Argo II is done. Percy declares the ship safe and not a threat to Camp Jupiter. Everyone—everyone who is considered important enough—is seating on a long rectangular table. On one end of the table seat Reyna and Percy, and the other end is empty. To Percy's right is Annabeth, something Piper is bitterly jealous of. She takes comfort in the fact that he isn't paying her much attention. Percy is keeping himself in check, not looking at Piper either, but she thinks that is good. He doesn't want people to know he wants her.

Percy doesn't want Annabeth to know. Piper has other plans, but they won't be set in motion for a while.

On Reyna's left side is Jason, seating in front of Annabeth. Piper herself seats besides Jason and Frank Zhang seats besides her. In front of Frank seats Hazel Levesque, who Piper finds is a delightful conversation, but she doesn't look too happy about seating next to Leo. The Queen of the Amazons and her second-in-command seat nearby, as do Tyson and Ella the Harpy. The group of four serves to separate the Seven and Rayna from the Centurions.

Juno appears just before the end of the feast, so beautiful she can't be anything but a goddess. Reyna and Percy stand up to greet her properly, but the Queen of the Gods motions for them to sit.

"Romans and Greeks, for years the gods have kept you separated, afraid of the lengths you would go to, to destroy the other. In the last war you worked unknowingly together. Kronos was not an enemy to trifle with, but Gaea is all the more dangerous. I have chosen my Seven, the seven Heroes of Olympus, to stop Gaea from destroying Western Civilization. Frank Zhang, son of Mars," The buff Chinese boy stands up like a good Roman. _Why can't they just wave? Why stand up for everything?_

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto," Hazel follows Frank.

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus," Thankfully, Leo has the decorum to get up from his seat. Piper grabs his hand before he gets a chance to wave. She drops it before anyone notices.

As much as Piper dislikes the Romans' uptight society, she follows their example. "Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite," Piper stands up gracefully. She is self-conscious of her clothes for once, but quickly forgets about it when the next name is announced.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," Annabeth is shocked and Piper is sure her expression is reflected on her own face. Jason and Percy are likewise surprised, but no one says a thing.

"Then there are the two leaders of this quest. Today in the senate, a question was left unanswered. Why did I choose to swap two men from each camp? I chose to _exchange_ them," Piper flinches at the word, waiting for something to explode. "Yes, it was _partly_ because of their remarkable feats of battle, their natural leadership ability, and because they _have_ earned the trust of Olympus. But most importantly, I chose them because they both have ties among both of you. My own champion, Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, has a Greek sister."

The Romans are looking at Juno like she is crazy. "Thalia Grace is the Lieutenant of Artemis, the Greek form of Diana." The hall is deathly quiet. "Stand up, Jason." He does so carefully, as if he is afraid it is a trap.

Piper understands the part about Jason having Greek connections, but she doesn't get how Percy could. If Percy had a long-lost sister, then surely Piper would have met her already at this camp. Surely she would have been in the meeting. With a jolt she remembers something Hazel had said mere minutes ago. _Frank is a legacy of Poseidon._

What if Percy is a legacy of a Roman deity?

In a second, Piper has discarded tens of Gods. _Not Minerva, Athena hates him. Not Mars, Ares hates him. Not Jupiter, Zeus doesn't let him fly. Not Bacchus, Dionysus hates him._ And the list goes on… Piper has a long moment of panic when she thinks it is maybe Venus.

_No, please, no_, she keeps thinking as Juno talks about Percy.

"And the most remarkable of the Seven, Percy Jackson, son of Neptune… and Poseidon." Percy doesn't make the same mistake as Jason; he stands up quickly, but he is visibly shaking to Piper.

No one speaks, and Piper is terribly confused. Her mind blanks out. _What does Juno mean?_ The happiness she feels when she doesn't mention Venus is overridden by confusion.

Piper hopes Juno explains on her own because no one seems to be brave enough to question the goddess.

"What do you mean?" Except Annabeth, of course.

Piper glances at Juno, afraid she would blast Annabeth to pieces. "I mean, daughter of Athena, that Percy Jackson is both a Roman and a Greek."

"How?" Piper is glad Percy speaks this time and not Annabeth. She seems to like him better.

Juno smiles, and if Piper thought that Reyna's expression a few hours ago was smug, then Juno's is much, _much_ more than smug.

"Unlike Frank, your link to Rome is not through your distant ancestor, but your own parent. Poseidon was in his full form at the time you were conceived."

"Is that normal?" Jason sounds incredulous.

Juno frowns at him. "Of _course_ it isn't normal. I knew the time for the prophecy of the Seven was coming, so I made a deal with Poseidon because I didn't want a child of Hades' or Zeus' to take the glory! If he conceived a child who was both a Roman and a Greek, and he or she reached the age of sixteen and survived the first Great Prophecy, then that same child would unify Rome and Greece and lead the demigods to victory against Gaea. Do you _know_ how long this plan has been on the works?" There is a soft tapping sound coming from nearby. Piper does a double-take when she realizes that the Queen of the Gods is tapping her foot against the floor.

Juno looks much less godly now she has worked herself up. There is silence, but Juno doesn't seem bothered. "So, yes, those are the Seven. You sail at the latest the day after tomorrow at noon. Annabeth Chase will be staying here with Reyna, daughter of Bellona. The other six, with Tyson the Cyclops and Ella the Harpy will be sailing in the Argo II. You will stop in Camp Half-Blood and the Cyclops will stay there. The harpy will accompany you to Rome, as will Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle of Delphi. Do not fail me, Heroes."

And with that, the goddess disappears in a gust of wind.

_**The Song of the Sea**_

_**A/N:**_ It's funny. Basically all my stories start out as one-shots. Breaking Hearts was this tiny snippet in the beginning, and Waning Moon was this longish oneshot. I also have this idea for a Perlia story narrated by Jason (weird, right?) that actually came to me _way_ before this, but got shoved back because of this. That was originally a oneshot, but it will probably be a story. Unless Mark of Athena sneaks up on me and I cram everything in ten thousand words.

So there was basically no interaction between Percy and Piper here. I apologize about that, but it's the first chapter. I'm setting things up. I did my best with the politics, and I think I did a good enough job. Reyna ran away with me. I have no idea what happened with her, okay? But I like her this way. She's OOC, but I think that I can fix that for next chapter. We just saw so little of her here.

Also, I chose to sneak in my theory on Percy being the son of both Neptune and Poseidon. I kept expecting for Percy to get a _what?_ moment in The Son of Neptune when someone told him he was a Roman and a Greek. I'm hoping it will be in the Mark of Athena, or in whatever book comes after. It's not fair that Jason has got Thalia as a link to the Greeks but Percy has got nothing… _yet_.


	2. II A Clash of Wills

_**II. A Clash of Wills**_

Piper's eyes follow Percy from one side of the room to the other. She had enjoyed the chance to stare at him freely for half an hour, but forty-five minutes of indiscriminate ogling is more than enough for Piper to grow bored of him—for now.

Piper sighs loudly, hoping to catch someone's attention. When no one so much as turns to look at her, she resolves to stay quiet until Leo, Frank and Hazel come back from the Argo II. She notes the cherry-red curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows of Reyna's living room. After Hera disappeared, Reyna had quickly ended the feast—despite complaints from the legionnaires—and ushered everyone into her praetor villa. When they'd gotten there, however, she had made no effort to dissect Hera's announcement, as Piper has expected her to. Instead, she had allowed the room to fall into silence as they settled in their seats.

Piper glances at Reyna, who is sitting in front of her, her back against the armrest of the sofa. She knows enough from the senate meeting, and from the reactions that followed Juno's exit, to understand why Reyna had been so eager to get them out of the dining pavilion. Octavian.

Irritation swept through her in an instant. _We are fighting a war. We need to stand together._ And yet a single boy, who looks like the wind might knock him over, has them on their guards, keeping themselves locked up inside one of the praetor villas because they were too afraid of making a wrong move. _How are we supposed to fight Gaea like this?_

Piper remembers the story of Silena Beauregard, which Annabeth had told her after much begging, and a thought suddenly strikes her. She nudges Reyna's foot with her own. The praetor of Camp Jupiter tears her eyes away from Percy's stalking form and gives Piper her full attention.

She arches an eyebrow in question, an amused expression on her face. "Could Octavian be a spy?"

Even Percy looks at Piper. He answers her when no one looks like they're going to. "Sure, he could, but just because he doesn't like us doesn't mean he is."

Piper opens her mouth to speak, but Reyna interrupts her. "Oh, does this mean you're done sulking?" She smirks at Percy.

Percy glares at her and continues pacing.

Piper wants her answers, though. "Why isn't he cooperating, then?" Annoyance forgotten, Percy, Jason and Reyna somehow manage to share a look. "What?"

"You're thinking like a Greek." Annabeth growls, but strangely enough, she is shooting daggers at Reyna—not Percy. Percy quickly corrects himself. "I mean, the two camps are really different. The Romans don't just hate the Greeks because of Troy, and the Greeks the Romans because they got conquered." Piper notes the way he's speaking now, as if he wasn't either. "Romans are more politically-oriented. Even when they're at war with someone else, the Romans fight. We don't." And the switch. Annabeth smiles softly, but Reyna purses her lips in anger. She stays quiet, though.

Jason clears his throat. "The legionnaires are loyal to the legion, but if they believe that the best interests of Rome aren't being represented, or the like, then it's not uncommon for them to desert."

"Oh, yeah," Percy says, "most of the demigods who joined Kronos were yours, right? That would explain why I didn't know most of them."

That's news to Piper, but everyone else in the room doesn't seem surprised. Jason and Reyna look offended, if anything. Reyna snaps, "You know, you're one of _us_. Remember?"

Percy stiffens, but Annabeth leaps to his rescue. "Get off his case about it. He just found out, and he barely knows you. Leave him alone."

Reyna snorts. "He's our praetor now. He has to own up to it. Juno had such wonderful foresight. She told us just at the right moment." Reyna directs herself to Percy. "This way, the legionnaires that liked you despite being Greek feel justified, and the ones that didn't feel like paranoid idiots—but it's not too bad, because they spent less than a day hating you."

"Like _she_ deserves the credit for everything?"

Reyna looks as if she is about to retort before she closes her mouth. "Of course she is," Jason says. Reyna's eyes widen comically, shaking her head furiously at Jason. She lets out a squeak before she slaps her hand over her mouth, an annoyed look on her face. "Didn't you hear her? She planned his birth."

Percy stays quiet.

Reyna attempts to fix it. "Which is a lovely contrast to most of us here, who were accidents, don't you think?" She shoots a dirty look at Annabeth, as if being a daughter of Athena was her fault.

"Better to be ignored than a weapon, right?"

"Better to be useful than cannon fodder."

_What's that supposed to mean?_ "If you think so, but anyway, Poseidon still used his mother."

Reyna stood up and slammed her hands on the low coffee table. "So _what_ if he didn't love her? What do we care?"

Jason smirks and leans back on his seat as realization dawns on Piper. Annabeth gasps. Piper glances at Percy, who has a stony look on his face. "_What?_" Reyna looks around. "What did I say?"

"And that," Percy remarks lightly, though Piper thinks it's obvious his words are forced, "was what I meant by Romans being politically-inclined. Manipulation isn't as easy as it looks, though."

"I'm—Okay, what just happened?"

"Just sit down, Reyna." With a confused look on her face, she does as Percy asks. "It's okay."

"No, it isn't." Piper blinks before she realizes Annabeth had echoed her thoughts. "You may be Roman, but you don't want to be. Just get that _thing_," Annabeth gestures at the praetor toga, "off and we can be on our way towards Camp Half-Blood."

Percy frowns. "You have to stay here, Annabeth. Juno said so."

"He's right," Piper cuts in, only to be ignored. _Really, why wouldn't they?_

"Which is why I can't stay here. I won't do anything she wants me to because it will most probably be detrimental to my health, so no. I'm going back."

"Hera—"

"Not now, Piper." Annabeth says without looking at her.

"Juno is our patron for this quest, Annabeth. If you don't stay… Well, I don't actually know what would happen if you don't stay, but it's better if we don't find out. The point is, she's helping us save the Gods, so we're on the same side."

Annabeth's mouth drops open. "Percy! Don't you remember what she tried to do to Nico just because he was a son of Hades?"

"Technically, she didn't _do_ anything."

"Not—now."

"I was just saying."

Annabeth finally loses her patience, and whirls around on her seat. "Stay out of this, Piper."

Jason holds his hands up, signaling surrender. "Peace, you two." He says to Annabeth, "But Percy," he makes a face at the name, "is right; you have to stay here. With Reyna." Reyna doesn't smile, but merely shows her teeth in a very threatening way.

Annabeth doesn't look reassured. "You can't make me stay."

Reyna does smile now, but throws her head back, laughing. "Oh, believe me, I won't."

Annabeth cocks her head to the side. "Right." She glances at Percy. "I'm leaving." She stands up to prove her point. "Are you coming with me, Percy?"

He stays quiet for a while, looking at the floor, before he says, "She told me you'd do this."

Piper is confused. "Sorry, what?"

"Juno told me you'd cause trouble in the quest." _Gee, thanks for answering_ me.

Annabeth huffs. "Trouble! Of course she thinks I will. I'm not a pushover. I don't do what she wants. I won't trust her after the labyrinth."

"You don't have to. Just stay for the quest, do what you think is best when something comes up, but don't trust her. Just cooperate. It's for our parents. It's for every mortal out there who doesn't know they might die or be slaved any day now if we don't do something about it."

Annabeth seems to hesitate. There's something Piper can't quite place in Annabeth's face that tells her she will cave in. Piper realizes that her heart is beating wildly in her chest. Her mouth feels dry. If Annabeth says no, then would they fight? Would she be free to date Percy?

Annabeth straightens, apparently having made up her mind, when Percy grabs her hand and says, "Please."

Annabeth shakes her head. "You know I can't."

Percy makes a worried face that, under other circumstances, Piper would have thought cute. "Please."

"You know I shouldn't."

There is a beat of silence. Then, "I love you."

Piper's heart seems to stop. Then it picks up the pace until her chest begins to hurt and her head swims. Her second reaction is to tell herself, _It's okay. It doesn't matter._ But it _does_ matter, and it can't _possibly_ be okay because she _loves_ him. She had _sworn_ on the river Styx he would be with her. It isn't okay.

Piper tries to deny his words, but it's impossible. Perhaps if she'd been a daughter of Demeter or another deity, she wouldn't have felt the truth of his words. She wouldn't have felt how much he meant it, how much he loved her, and she wouldn't have known it is the first time Percy tells Annabeth he loves her.

Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, however, so she feels it; knows it. It's inescapable.

She chokes back the tears, brushes off Reyna's comforting arm, and tries to ignore the way Jason is glaring at Percy and Piper. Piper knows Jason loves her. She has the sudden urge to laugh. That morning she might as well have done the same thing Percy is doing to her, to Jason. And yet he—who is losing so much more to Percy than Piper is to Annabeth—never acted as anything less than a son of Zeus. He remained strong throughout everything.

Jason is concerned about her, and that breaks her heart in a completely different way than Percy declaring his love for Annabeth is.

Piper takes a deep breath, and resolves to keep quiet for the rest of the night unless she necessarily had to speak up. Reyna has other plans. She digs her nails on Piper's shoulder so hard that she barely refrains from flinching.

When Piper looks up, Reyna has a calculating look on her face. "Nico? Di Angelo?"

Piper grits her teeth in annoyance. _Is this the time to be concerned about Nico Di Angelo, for whatever reason?_

Annabeth looks away from Percy, and immediately Piper feels thankful to Reyna. Without her knowing it, she'd kept herself open to Annabeth and Percy's emotions, and those hurt. "You know him?" Annabeth says.

Reyna lets out a scream and a slew of words in a language Piper doesn't understand, but Percy and Jason do, so she assumes she is cursing in Latin. "He was Greek. Greek! I let a Greek into the camp. Not only a Greek, but a son of Pluto. How stupid could I have been? This is your fault, Jason!"

Piper looks confused about why Reyna is bringing the boy up now, but he replies anyways, "Mine? How would that be my fault, exactly?"

"You convinced me to let him in."

"I suggested it would do no harm, since he was a demigod and all. I didn't tell you to do anything."

"No, I distinctly remember you telling me to let him in."

"Oh, so now you do what I say?"

Reyna makes a show of spluttering. Piper stares wide-eyed, wondering why she was pushing the topic. Through most of her rebelled at the thought of Percy being with Annabeth, perhaps it was best to leave the two alone to kiss and make up.

Jason and Reyna continue arguing until Leo arrives, slamming the door behind him. "Yo, demigods! Your supreme captain, Leo Valdez, is here to inform you that—"

As everyone's attention shifts to Leo momentarily, Reyna stoops to whisper into Piper's ears. "You owe me for this."

"Why?" _Why are you doing this?_

"She will say no if she's alone." Reyna doesn't say it, but Piper understands. Later, telling her he loves her won't surprise her enough to concede. Percy loves her. "Don't think about it," she hisses, as if she'd read her mind.

Reyna straightens. Her screech interrupts Leo. "I don't care what you say."

Leo clucks his tongue. "You know what? I think I have to check up on the Argo II again." He leaves as quickly as he came.

Reyna ignores him. "If Octavian finds out about this, he'll have our heads."

Jason answers her calmly. "So get Nico back here, have him do some heroic stuff, and let's pretend that he was sent by Juno. Done."

"Oh, yes," Reyna mocks, "because he's stupid now, right? He would know it's a cover-up. No, Jason. At best, we can downplay his presence and hope no one catches on."

"I really don't see the point of this." The point is interrupting a couple, of course Jason doesn't see the point. Piper thinks that the whole thing is sloppy. Honestly, she had known Reyna for a day, but she already knows that she doesn't throw stupid comments around. "Can you complain about something else? Like maybe something about the quest?"

"I'll complain about having to deal with that _whore_. Like mother, like daughter."

"That's rich, Reyna, coming from someone who's flirting with two guys at once. Don't call Piper a whore if you're one yourself."

Reyna shoots back at her, "I wasn't calling Piper a whore. I was referring to _you_. Virgin goddess, please. Diana I'll buy. Minerva? No."

"My mother is a maiden!" Annabeth looks startled.

"That's what you say."

"Are you honestly placing the virtue of Aphrodite over Athena's?"

Piper snorts. "You don't have to be such a bitch about it, Annabeth."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth says, and she actually looks like she is. Piper ignores her. She doesn't care if she's sorry or not. She doesn't care if Aphrodite sleeps around with anything that moves. If only Annabeth could just _die_, she'd be happy. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Yes, you did," Reyna interjects before Piper can say anything, which she wasn't going to, anyway. Reyna narrows her eyes at Annabeth. "But you're staying here. I won't let you leave until you must, and I'll decide when that is."

Annabeth scoffs, incensed. "You can't hold me here. I'm gone." She made to walk out of the room, but Percy quickly blocked her path.

"Please, Annabeth." Percy appears torn between glaring at Reyna and giving Annabeth pleading looks.

"No." There is no doubt in her voice. _It's her pride_, Piper thinks. Her face lights up, and she wonders if Reyna knows hubris is Annabeth's fatal flaw.

"Annabeth," Percy begs.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Stop being so stubborn, swallow your _pride_," he draws out the word, throwing her flaw on her face, "and help."

"I can't swallow my pride, the same way you can't turn your back on Olympus and serve Gaea like a good servant, Percy. And I couldn't bear the frustration it would bring me to be with someone as crude as her." She points at Reyna.

"Don't make this about her! She hasn't done anything to you."

"My mother—"

"Will most likely smite her for it tomorrow. This is about you, and Juno, and wanting to fight the Queen of the Gods. It's one thing to fight Mars. It's another to challenge Juno."

Annabeth throws her hands up in the air. "It's Hera and Ares, for Hades' sake, Percy. You're Greek."

"_And_ Roman."

"He's been in this camp for less than a week. Most of it has been spent on a quest. He doesn't care about this place."

"He's our praetor." Reyna bites out.

"Just because you need him doesn't mean he needs you." Annabeth isn't only talking about Romans and Greeks anymore.

"Or you."

"He'll be coming back to Camp Half-Blood with me because he wants to, and Hera doesn't have a say about it."

Reyna raises an eyebrow. "Will you?" She calls out to Percy.

Eyes glued to the floor, Percy says, so quietly Piper can barely hear him, "No."

"See? Our praetor stands by us."

Jason flinches.

Annabeth throws Percy an incredulous look, but answers Reyna. "Not for long, do they?"

"I'm sorry for getting kidnapped by a goddess, alright? I should have done something, like resisting and getting killed because of it, I get it. Enough already."

"Jason, no one's blaming you for leaving—"

"I didn't _leave_."

"—I would have done the same, if you had to deal with such company on a daily basis."

"Could you please be so kind as to leave me out of this?"

"We'll leave you out of this. Don't worry. Annabeth's just too blind to see what's staring her right in the face. She's Greek, you see." Reyna plops down on the sofa. Shrugging, she crosses her legs. "When she understands, she'll slap herself silly for being so dumb."

"I don't understand? I know what you want, and I won't let you manipulate him into abandoning his family." Annabeth steps in front of Reyna's siting form. "It's because you don't have one, isn't it? You want to be miserable together?"

"Camp Jupiter is my home and the legionnaires are my family." Reyna says robotically.

"No, your family was the witches of Circe's island."

Piper knows what she's going to do before she does it. Reyna growls and jumps from the sofa so fast Piper only catches the end of the movement. Her hand goes to her belt and draws her dagger as Annabeth does the same. Piper is half-kneeing on the sofa when she decides that she's not going to be able to stop the two in time. Her hand wraps herself around Reyna's wrist. She tugs on it, but Reyna shakes her off.

"Stop!" It's probably the strongest charmspeak Piper has ever used, and the strength she puts behind her order is enough to provoke a headache. Reyna gets a far-away look in her eyes and drops her dagger, but Annabeth—who has been subject to Piper's charmspeak for months—hesitates for only a moment before she plunges her knife into Reyna's chest, then tears it out.

Piper scrambles off the sofa and places herself between the two, catching Reyna just before she hits the floor. "Oh my Gods. Oh my Gods, did she hit something vital?" A gust of wind—but that should have been impossible; they were indoors—flings Piper and Reyna one way, Annabeth the other. Piper sees Annabeth fall on the coffee table, her weight tipping it backwards with her in it, before the wind snaps her head to the side with a small, almost whip-like _crack_. The two land on the sofa they'd been occupying seconds ago, but the force of the wind knocks it over and sends it crashing to the floor. They hit the ground rolling, their momentum carrying them forwards until they hit the wall.

Except only Piper did, her head slamming into it so fast and hard that there was a thunderous _CRACK!_

There is a moment when Piper doesn't know her own name, but somehow, she manages to sit up and lean against the wall. There is no sound, no nothing, for one endless, senseless second. Then she comes back to herself when a harsh whisper pierces the cocoon of silence. "Get—down—on—the—floor!" Someone tackles her. Pain explodes behind her eyes, her neck, her back, her head—everywhere. Her scream rips through the noise, rising above everyone else's.

"Jason, help me restrain her." Percy shouts. "Now!"

"Let me go!"

Convulsions wrack Piper's body as her scream is halted by coughs. She can't breathe, but she feels the blade bury itself into her shoulder. Reyna curses in Latin above her. "She'll pay for this." Piper feels something wet and… thick land on her cheek. The smell of blood drifts into her nose, but she knows it's not only Reyna's.

"Aurum! Argentum! Come here!"

The dogs? Her thoughts are fuzzy, but she has a vision of red eyes and metallic bodies. "Hey?" Piper feels around for Reyna, then tugs at some part of her clothing. "Are their eyes real rubies?"

After a second, Reyna says, "You've got a concussion." She leaves it at that, but Piper's only thought is, _So, are they?_

Piper makes the mistake of opening her eyes. Reyna's snarling, blood-stained face fills her vision. In one fluid movement she retrieves Annabeth's knife—embedded on the wall—and throws it. Piper can't see at who, but Reyna screams in frustration and hisses, "Fine, he goes first." She draws the bloodied knife from Piper's shoulder. When she yelps in pain, Reyna mutters something that sounds like 'sorry.'

Percy swears. "I was helping you! Look out, Jason. She—"

Through the pain, she can feel Reyna take Katoptris. Piper assumes she throws it, because the next moment Jason groans in pain. "Didn't seem like it!"

Piper holds herself up on her elbows, and is just in time to see Annabeth throw Reyna's own knife back at her. With one hand clutching the wound on her chest, Reyna merely smirks with bloodied lips and _snatches the knife out of the air._ She throws it with deadly accuracy, and it plunges itself into Annabeth's torso.

"That's the blessing of Bellona. A lung for a lung, daughter of Minerva."

A long, drawn-out scream reaches Piper's ears. The voice, even in her befuddled state, sounds suspiciously like Leo's. The door thunders open and closed in close succession, and indeed, Leo slides to the floor against the oak door, panting. "_Whatever_ happened, violence is not the answer! Call them off! Please!" Leo sounds terrified.

A stabbing pain erupts behind Piper's eyes, forcing her to close the eyes. In reflex, her hand rises to touch the bridge of her noise, but her shoulder explodes in agony at the movement.

"We need some Ambrosia for her, Percy." There is something telling Piper that something terrible must have happened if Jason was cooperating with Percy. _It's because Percy loves me, but isn't Percy Annabeth's boyfriend? Why would he love me?_

Reyna chuckles, but it soon turns into coughs. Regardless, she says, "Shouldn't you two be more worried about our resident beauty?" Gasps echo around the room. "Yes, yes, but let's get read of the other one. Argentum, Aurum, break the windows and _kill her._"

"Wait. Time out. You're setting those beasts on Annabeth? Look, she scares me too, but she's part of the quest."

"What do you know, Leo Valdez? Be quiet and stay out of their way. If so, they won't harm you." Reyna coughs. "Ah, here…" Her breathing is labored. "Here they are." I—" More coughs. "My head. I—" She sucks in a sharp breath. "My mother's blessing. My…"

"She's out." Jason calls a second before a crash swallows his voice.

"Oh my Gods."

"Protect Annabeth. Get here, Leo." Piper hears Percy's voice over ferocious growls.

"This is going to end badly." Jason.

"So, what's new?" Leo.

Piper's heart beats in her ears, drowning out her surroundings. There is the clash of metal on metal… an explosion… the crackle of fire… and words.

"Reyna's going to kill you, man."

And then nothing.

_**The Song of the Sea**_

"She's waking up." Is that Percy's voice? It makes her smile.

"Yes, she is." Jason says bitterly, and the smile drops from her face. _Why is he angry?_

"What's…?" _What's going on?_ She doesn't have the energy to finish the question.

"Um, it's better if we don't go into it yet."

"But…" She wants to complain, to demand they tell her what happened and why she is lying on the floor. She wants to know why her head hurts so much. But she can't finish a single sentence before she runs out of breath.

"Everything's fine." Percy says, but she has a feeling Percy is the kind of guy who will say that even when it's not.

"Keep talking." Piper slurs. Even as she says it, she starts drifting off.

"She's falling asleep." Jason says.

"Fine. Piper?" A warm hand touches her cheek. "You've got a concussion. You need to stay awake."

"Hurts."

"Oh, sorry." Percy removes his hand from her cheek.

_That wasn't what I meant. _For some reason, she_ really _likes his touch.

She leaves the topic alone, though, because she wants to know why everything hurts more than she wants to cause more of a rift—she has a feeling she caused it, but doesn't know why—between Jason and Percy. "Up."

"No." The two boys say at once. _They certainly are getting on._

Jason continues, "If you try, you'll probably throw up."

"What's," Piper has to catch her breath, "going on?"

There is a pause, and Piper can just imagine the two looking at each other—deciding if it would be better to tell her or leave her in the dark. Piper desperately wants to open her eyes, but it's enough effort to talk when her back and neck are burning, her head is being constantly pummeled with something heavy, and her shoulder is making her experience a whole new level of pain she didn't know existed.

"You're experiencing memory loss." Jason says. All of a sudden, she becomes aware that her hand is resting on Jason's. Her mind goes back to last winter, when Jason had woken up in a bus, disoriented, with no memories, _her_ hand gripping his when he _didn't love her_. The role reversal strikes her as darkly funny, but she doesn't know why. _I love Jason._

Piper doesn't try to shake his hand off.

"Annabeth and Reyna fought. You kind of got caught in the middle."

An image of Reyna, wounded, grabbing a flying knife effortlessly before she throws it back at someone, swims into her mind.

The last few moments start coming back. "Why?"

Percy understands. "There were a couple of reasons. Annabeth was taking out her anger at Hera on Reyna."

Something else comes to her. "Why did Annabeth want to leave?"

"Juno."

Piper doesn't have anything else to say to that, and opts to let the silence settle.

_**The Song of the Sea**_

Hours later, with her memories back and a pounding headache haunting her, Piper walks shakily out of the senate house, leaning heavily on Jason. Romans run around them, ignoring them. Frank, Leo and Hazel follow them, sneaking glances behind them. And following _them_, Reyna and Percy drag an unconscious Annabeth, lagging behind from having to bat off the incessant badgering of legionnaires who want to know what happened and why the daughter of Minerva hasn't been hanged yet. Trailing behind is Octavian. When Piper glances back at them, he catches her eyes and smirks at her.

She is afraid that they had just given him what he wants—and that is the praetorship.

The crowd stays with them until they climb up the Argo II. Jason carries Piper up to the deck, then Reyna, and reluctantly Annabeth. Percy is the last to climb the rope ladder, snapping at Octavian something Piper can't hear but Octavian doesn't look too happy about.

Despite having been in the Argo II only once, Percy seems to know it perfectly. He leads the group to the meeting room, seating himself at the head of the table, opposite the door. Jason reluctantly seats himself next to him, placing himself in between Percy and Piper. Piper can't muster the anger to be mad at him. She wants to crawl into bed and sleep.

Frank and Leo, who're carrying Annabeth between the two of them, seem unsure as to where to place her. Without a word in their direction, Percy got up from his chair, which screeched against the wooden floor, and strode out of the room. He returned less than a minute later to find Annabeth in the door he'd previously occupied, a sphere of saltwater floating alongside him. He nods jerkily to Leo and Frank, presumably in thanks for carrying Annabeth.

"If that's saltwater, Percy," the name sounds out-of-place coming from Piper's lips, "then it'll scar." She doesn't know why she cares, but Annabeth is—had been, technically still is—her friend.

"Not if I don't want to. The children of Apollo won't heal her. We've got to improvise." Percy kneels down in front of Annabeth and flicks his hand. The sphere of water floats down to Annabeth's chest and slides under her torn shirt. Percy touches Annabeth's hand, saying, "Get some ambrosia and nectar, Hazel."

She complies.

Piper examines Percy. His purple toga is torn, as is the rest of his clothing. His hair is fine, as is his face, but he looks tired. His eyes seem to droop before he snaps back to attention. Suddenly, Annabeth groans.

"What're you doing to me?" She tries to shake of Percy's hand, but he holds on.

"Hold on. Just a while longer."

"Percy?" She shakes her head back and forth, blinking. "It itches. What're you doing?"

"Shh." Percy looks at Annabeth with such tenderness that Piper feels both angry and ashamed of herself for trying to get in between them. "That's it."

Annabeth tries to straighten. Percy's hand stops her. "Not that fast. I can't heal the wound completely. You need some food, some ambrosia, and, well, you should get stitches, but I hardly think that anyone here can do that, so bandages will have to do."

Hazel comes back at that moment. "Hazel, you know how to bandage a wound, right?"

Annabeth shakes her head lightly. "Piper can do it." She smiles at Piper. "Will showed her how a couple of weeks ago.

Piper's mouth drops open. For a moment, she can't answer. When she does, she can only stutter. "I—um, I'm not sure I remember how."

Annabeth looks hurt. "I didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry. I lost my temper. I was aiming at," her face seems to darken, "_her_."

"It's lovely to see you so comfortable, Annabeth," Reyna skips into the meeting room, for all the world looking like she hadn't punctured a lung four hours ago. She has bathed and is now wearing a clean toga. "I'm afraid you'll be transferred to one of New Rome's premier cells tomorrow morning."

"We agreed—"

"Yes, yes, Percy, but I changed my mind. Nothing wrong with that." Percy opens his mouth to protest, a look of anger crossing his face, when Reyna attempts to placate him. "It's not like she'll stay be her own free will. I can't afford to set guards around her, and after today most legionnaires aren't going to be too kind to her. Better to marginalize her and look like we're punishing her."

"We _would_ be punishing her." Percy scowls.

Reyna gestures with her hands. "Exactly! What better way to look like we're doing something that actually doing it?" She drops on the chair besides Piper.

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Frank says. Piper is surprised he has spoken at all, but he continues, "She's part of Juno's plan."

Reyna gives him a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, and she does nothing but disrespect our goddess. She attacked a praetor, severely injured someone else in the process," She rests her hand on Piper's shoulder, "and," Reyna grits her teeth, "caused the destruction of an invaluable artifact."

Leo scratches his head. "Look, about the dog…" He clears his throat. "You can hardly blame Annabeth for it. I burned it. Does it really matter so much that—"

Reyna stands up from her chair so fast that her chair tumbles to the floor. Her palms hit the table with so much force that it creaks. "Look, _boy_," she says it like she would an insult, "Aurum and Argentum were made of priceless materials." She leaps on the table and drags Leo up by his shirt. Jason moves forward to help him, but Hazel stops him with a shake of her head. "What you destroyed was silver blessed by Diana herself, crafted into a deadly, intelligent automaton by Vulcan and blessed by Apollo to tell truth from a lie. They were Mars' gift to my mother when they married! Don't expect me to make light of this. She will pay—for my wound _and_ my dog." Reyna releases Leo, then sits on the table like nothing had happened.

"No one but you is responsible for the dog. You set him on me." Annabeth tilts her chin up in defiance. Piper can't help but think how stupid a move that is when she is wounded.

"I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't stabbed us." She points at herself, then at Piper. Piper turns her head towards Reyna, so that Annabeth can't see the condemnation in her eyes if she cares to look. It's a coward's move.

"It was self-defense. You were going to do the same. Thank you, Piper." For a moment, Piper doesn't understand, then she does and she wants to laugh. _She thinks the charmspeak was to help her._

Piper doesn't bother to rectify, but Reyna also seems to find it funny. She doesn't cover up her reaction and doubles over laughing. "Whatever," she says at last, to confused and incredulous looks. "I don't care what you think. I can punish you any way I wish to, and if I want you imprisoned, you _will_ be imprisoned."

"And what am I?" Percy says, voice thick with anger. "A figurine? Don't I have a say in anything?"

Reyna purses her lips. "Nope."

Percy tightens his fists at his sides. "Then why were you so worried about Octavian becoming your co-praetor?"

Reyna gives him a blinding smile. "Because he has followers loyal to him. Because he has political power. You don't, and if you try to oppose me in this, Octavian will destroy you, and once he takes your place, Rome and Greece will be at war with each other. Is that appealing?" No one answers. "I thought not."

"You won't do that." Annabeth says, certainty in her voice.

Reyna arches an eyebrow. "How so?"

"If you do, then Rome will burn." All of a sudden, Frank, Hazel and Percy all become very interested in what Annabeth has to say. No one other than Piper, not even Reyna, seems to notice this. "You won't be able to defeat Gaea. If Civil War erupts, Rome will burn."

Reyna smiles self-deprecatingly. "So? You have more to lose than I do."

Annabeth's eyes widen. "What? But—but Camp Jupiter is your home!"

Reyna's smile turns into something as fascinating as it is dangerous. There's so much malice in her being directed at Annabeth that Piper can't look away. "No, daughter of Minerva, my home was Circe's island."

"Reyna…" Percy's face is full compassion.

"No. I don't want your help or your pity. I want her imprisoned until I decide what to do to her. Do you think I won't let this war happen, if it comes down to it? Do you think I'll stand against Octavian when no one listens to what I want the _one_ time I do?"

"You're selfish. No, you're insane. You'd put yourself before millions of people? I'm leaving with everyone else. There's no way I'll be at your mercy."

"You're already at my mercy."

"Have you looked around? Who's standing with you right now? If we decided to kill you right now, it wouldn't matter that we're in the middle of your territory. Are you going to fight us all? Three children of the Big Three and everyone else?"

"_That_ would set the war in motion."

"So would my death. You don't care about Juno's will. You just want revenge!" Annabeth shouts. "I won't stay!"

"Stop." Percy's voice manages to cut through the argument like a blade. "You can't leave, and I have to go to Camp Half-Blood, but then I'm sailing with Rachel and everyone else towards ancient Rome. That's the end of it. You will stay."

Annabeth blinks, unbelieving. "I won't do something just because you tell me to."

"You're not going to do anything because I tell you to. You will stay because the Gods say you will. I won't stop you. I won't need to lift a finger because Octavian won't let you leave that easily. He may hate us, but he respects the Gods. Juno ordered you to stay, and you will."

"What exactly happened to 'please' and 'I love you'?" Annabeth asks quietly.

"I love you, but you're being stubborn, and yeah, I love that about you specially, but when it's going to destroy the world, it's not as nice." Piper is caught between being happy he is shutting Annabeth down and sad that he _does_ love her. "I do love you." In that moment, Percy looks at Piper, and it's sweet because she's hearing _but_, and _I love you_ comes on its heels. His look makes her blush. It's beautiful. It's the beach and the first time their eyes met all over again.

Annabeth whirls around, following Percy's gaze. She is confused when her eyes pass over Reyna and land on Piper. With a gasp, she realizes.

_I'm sorry,_ Piper wants to say. _But I'm not._

"You're _joking_." Annabeth says after a while.

Leo tilts his head to the side, confused. "What's going on?"

Reyna shakes her head. "You're hopeless."

Annabeth ignores the two. "Why didn't I expect this?" She laughs sardonically. "This is just like Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she spits out the name, which Piper thinks curious, since the two are friends, "leaving me for a girl you barely know!"

Percy scrambles to fix his mistake. Piper watches him numbly, and prays to her mother he fails. "I'm not leaving you, Annabeth."

"No, of course not. It would be just like a daughter of Aphrodite to be okay with being the other woman. Fine, whatever. I'm going now." She shoots a glare at Reyna. "I don't have any friends here, it seems." Now it is Piper's turn to fall under the scrutiny of Annabeth's gaze. "Just remember, Percy has a short attention span." She glares at Reyna one last time before she walks out of the room, shutting the door on Percy's face.

There's silence, but her words keep echoing inside Piper's head. _Percy has a short attention span._

Percy opens the door.

"Where are you going? Are you stupid enough to follow her?" Reyna calls.

Percy sighs. "The barracks. I'm tired." Piper feels bad for him, but she keeps thinking, _What if he's going after her?_

"Wait, you haven't given him the other praetor house?"

Percy glances back at the son of Jupiter. "Yeah, she has, but you can sleep in it. I mean, your things are still there, Jason."

"No, I moved them here before the feast. The theme has changed already." Percy isn't looking at her, but his gaze is so piercing when he looks at Jason, that Piper looks away. She doesn't know how Jason is able to stand it.

"Okay." Percy says simply, and doesn't wait for an answer.

_**The Song of the Sea**_

_**A/N:**_ I wrote this chapter in two days, literally, even though I haven't updated in a couple of months. This didn't even cover half of what it was supposed to. As such, the next chapter is probably going to have copious amounts of romance.


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